Frequently Asked Questions

What Is It?

DivorceCare: Surviving the Holidays is an outreach tool. It equips your church to:

• Present a single, two-hour seminar (just like a typical DivorceCare session) that gives practical advice on dealing with divorce and separation during the holidays
• Share the gospel with the separated and divorced
• Grow your existing DivorceCare ministry

As far as the format of the seminar goes, think of it as a stand-alone DivorceCare session. You’ll show a video discussing holiday survival, lead a group discussion and introduce the broader DivorceCare program to those who attend. The video will be about 40 minutes, and you’ll reserve an additional 60–90 minutes for group discussion. Sound familiar?

Who Should Attend?

Clearly, anyone involved in your current DivorceCare program will benefit. Beyond that, we believe there is a HUGE potential for this material to be an outreach and promotional tool for your church.

We’ve come to understand that local news media will give a program like this extra exposure. You can use DivorceCare: Surviving the Holidays as a strategic way to draw people to your church and to your post-Christmas DivorceCare group.

Your church will be an oasis, providing on-target help when people are hurting the most. A one-session seminar is a low-risk, low-commitment way for them to sample the DivorceCare process.

When Should We Offer This Seminar?

DivorceCare: Surviving the Holidays should be a STAND-ALONE seminar, not blended in with your scheduled DivorceCare group. The idea is to attract newcomers!

You can offer it on a Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon or a weeknight. We recommend you schedule the seminar for just before Thanksgiving or no later than early December.

What’s in the Kit?

You’ll receive the Surviving the Holidays session on DVD, a Leader’s Guide and 10 copies of the Holiday Survival Guide for participants. The participant Survival Guide features a note-taking section, more than 30 daily devotions and other resources to minister to a hurting person during the holidays. The Leader’s Guide will feature suggestions on how to get maximum exposure and publicity for your seminar throughout your community. The video will be subtitled to minister to hearing-impaired participants.

Who Is on the Video?

You’ll see interviews with Sabrina Black, Elsa Kok Colopy, H. Norman Wright, Sue Lutz, Johnny Parker, Dr. Paul Tripp and others. In addition, you’ll hear many personal testimonies of people who’ve faced the holidays after separation and divorce.

What Topics Are Covered?

At a Surviving the Holidays session, participants will discover practical answers to these and other questions:

• Is it normal to feel so depressed during the holidays?
• How do I deal with the pain of the holidays?
• How do I decide what activities I’ll participate in this holiday season?
• Child custody issues
• What to do if you’re alone during the holidays
• How can God and others help me this holiday season?
• Will I ever enjoy the holidays again?

How Much?

The initial DivorceCare: Surviving the Holidays kit will cost $95 (plus S/H), which includes the items listed above. Additional participant Survival Guides are $4. The Survival Guide is a smaller format than the DivorceCare workbook (5.5" x 8") and has 64 pages.